Van Halen - Fair Warning
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Van HalenBrand: VAN HALEN
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2000-09-19
Music Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Soundtracks:
- Mean Street
- Sinner's Swing!
- Unchained
- So This Is Love?
- One Foot out the Door
Free Music Notes for Fair Warning
Free Music Review: Nothing really does stay the same...a brilliant, dark masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
Van Halen is the type of band that can satisfy somebody with high expectations. The interesting thing about them is that while they certainly have a sound of their own, it seems like experimenting is a high priority for them. Between the hair-metal of "1984", the half-moody, half-good time "Van Halen 2" and the unstoppable monster of their debut album, "Van Halen", (all of which had their share of popular tunes), it's easy to see how something less commercial or experimental would tend to go unnoticed.
Unfortunately, that's the case with "Fair Warning". A brilliant album, yes, but the truth of thematter is that it wasn't remembered for high-on-the-chart singles such as "Jump" or "Panama". However, what it lacks for in commercial success it more than makes up for in clever songwriting and an overall dark tone. On a positive note, it's probably one of their overall greatest albums.
"Fair Warning" is the type of album where each song can flow pretty well into the following, even if the styles are a bit different. In addition, "Fair Warning" overall paints an easy-to-see picture. You can almost imagine a movie being made in the scenery that's painted by the rebelliousness of "Unchained" or the third-world neighborhood of "Mean Street". It's a land of murky tales and strange situations that's just so interesting and quite dark that you are brought in without hardly knowing. The imagery on the album covers, front and back, hint at what such a place might be like; twisted days where people go wild, uncertain events pop up out of nowhere, and all is portrayed by the soundtrack, a hard-rocking, moody masterpiece that is "Fair Warning".
All right, so more to the point, the music on this album is quite unique and interesting. Even in all the murky emotions, the sing-a-long choruses and anthemic displays of power show you that while this album may prove to be a change of pace, Van Halen is basically the same. Eddie Van Halen displays more exciting stunts on his guitar, while David Lee Roth erupts like a volcano with his comments and amusingly entertaining performances. Michael Anthony's basswork is quite present on this album, too, and Alex Van Halen's "what kind of drums is that man playing on?" drumming is top-notch, too. Overall, this album is yet another display of Van Halen's both incredible talent and catchy songwriting.
"Mean Street": The first, thirty seconds are Eddie Van Halen's progressive dual-handed tapping, a technique so unusual that when my guitar teacher showed me a long, long time ago, I was drawn in and bought this album. The main riff is so awesome it makes you wanna turn the power all the way up. The closing solo is very impressive as well, and basically, everybody is at the top of their game here. An instant classic.
" 'Dirty Movies' ": Wow, in just four minutes, Van Halen plays one of the most unpredictable songs I've ever heard, in a GOOD way. There are a lot of changes in this song, and random things occuring, such as David Lee Roth's spoken word, "Hey, you remember when that girl was prooom queen? Oh, wow.", and "Take it off! Take it all off!!!", and the cheering, this is a great song full of surprises.
"Sinner's Swing!": A fast-paced rocker that contains a very explicit lyric, especially for a VH song, but this is an awesome three-minute hard-rock blast.
"Hear About It Later": OK, a little time-travel here. Remember VH's debut? A song on there, "Feel Your Love Tonight"? I CANNOT TELL YOU how much this track sounds like a murky, love-gone-bad version of that song. Even so, it's still original with an anthemic sing-a-long chorus and some interesting, opening guitar work.
"Unchained": Alongside "Mean Street", this is probably my favorite song on the album. It opens with a huge, loud, crunchy guitar riff, the fast, fade-in drums, and DLR's, "ALL RIGHT!", shout. Great soloing and another funny DLR performance inside.("One break, commmming uppp!".)
"Push Comes To Shove": A very unusual VH song focused around a funky bassline and more basic drumwork. This song makes me thing about walking along the suburban streets of New York City, bundled up in the autumn, thinking about everything that's going on in your life. With such lyrics as, "Seems like forty days and forty nights since somebody's called me by my first name/ Including you", this is an introspective song that's an absolute delight, served up Van Halen style.
"So This Is Love?": The complete opposite of "Push Comes To Shove", this song has the swing and groove of an early Black Sabbath tune (one of Tony Iommi's guitar heroes was jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt). Along with an original VH sound and for some reason, a Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe, this is yet another great rocker.
"Sunday Afternoon In The Park": A slow, sludgy, two-minute instrumental with some of the wildest guitar playing I can recall hearing from Eddie. The riff starts and stops with some slow but cool drum fills of his brother Alex, and then, fading in is a hot, nasty guitar riff that leads into the closer...
"One Foot Out The Door": The killer riff continues here with Alex Van Halen's trademark, fade-in drumming, and DLR and Michael Anthony both kick in. The song and album close with yet another blazing guitar solo, and thus ends it all.
There you go, the dark, underrated masterpiece that is "Fair Warning". Although not the most commercially successful release, it's among Van Halen's very best. So if you want an album with massive talent but still packs the anthemic immortality that Van Halen displays so well, "Fair Warning" can almost undoubtedly get that taken care of. If you like this and want to explore more VH, I'd strongly recommend checking out, at least, "Van Halen (1)" and "1984", which both show these guys at the top of their game. Have a good time with this one, and until next time, peace!
Fair Warning Poster
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: VAN HALEN
Title: FAIR WARNING
Street Release Date: 09/19/2000
Genre: ROCK/POP
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